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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29627076">weakness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenisblue/pseuds/greenisblue'>greenisblue</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Domestic Fluff, Feel-good fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Minor Injuries, One Shot, Platonic Relationships, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, not very graphic or violent no worries, they r just so sweet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:35:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,969</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29627076</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenisblue/pseuds/greenisblue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter accidentally breaks Tony's nose. Peter loses any dignity he had left, and Tony gains a hilarious story for parties.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Happy Hogan &amp; Peter Parker, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>220</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>weakness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is uh... my first time ever writing fanfiction. or ANY story for that matter. like....ever. please be nice to me thank u</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Friday starts like any other for Tony Stark. He’s working in the lab, tinkering with yet another prototype for his web-slinging intern’s web-slingers. Said web-slinger was currently being picked up from school by Happy, who would then take him back to the compound to work with Tony for a few hours. It had become a weekly occurrence, and Tony would be lying if he said he didn’t look forward to it every time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The truth was, he had grown quite fond of the kid. Peter Parker was just so entirely </span>
  <em>
    <span>good </span>
  </em>
  <span>that it was difficult for anyone in his path to not become wholly endeared by him. He cared about everyone and everything, sometimes to a fault- Tony had experienced first-hand the boy nearly getting hit by a car after diving into the highway to save a squirrel. A </span>
  <em>
    <span>squirrel</span>
  </em>
  <span>. After much chastising about Peter and the squirrel having roughly the same level of self-preservation skills, Tony realized there wasn’t much he could do in the way of keeping the kid from making impulsive decisions that put him in harm’s way to protect others. So, he resorted to focusing his energy on preparing him for danger. His many spider-themed onesies were constantly needing upgrading, because Peter would find himself in situations that Tony had not thought to prepare for. Apparently, there is no limit to the number of ways a spider-teen can injure himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Today Tony is working through a version of Peter’s webshooters that won’t get clogged up when the young hero inevitably ends up in another sewage system chase. He’s getting impatient, and a bit worried, because Happy and Peter are 45 minutes later than usual. He knows it’s probably traffic. Probably.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he’s thinking of the many terrible ways Peter could be getting himself killed at the moment, the doors to the lab slide open, and Happy pushes Peter in front of him, gripping his shoulders and wearing an expression that was less than thrilled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go on. Tell him why we’re late.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter sighs. He’s wearing the Spider-Man suit, sans mask, which is dangling loosely from his right hand. There’s a bruise on his left cheekbone, a slash in the material over the right side of his ribcage, and dirt decorating him in patches from head to toe. But he’s there, and alive, and both he and Happy look more inconvenienced than anything else, so Tony relaxes. He raises his eyebrows at Peter, who currently seems to be very interested in his own feet, and doesn’t realize his mentor is waiting impatiently for his explanation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pete?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The teenager’s head snaps up to meet his gaze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Um... well, Happy had just picked me up, and we were on our way back here, and I- I was looking out the car window and saw some guy snatch a purse from a lady who was eating outside a restaurant. Except, he didn’t really </span>
  <em>
    <span>snatch</span>
  </em>
  <span> it, he unhooked it from her chair as he was walking by and tucked it into his jacket. Nobody even noticed!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh huh…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So I went and chased him-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t forget the part where you </span>
  <em>
    <span>jumped through the sunroof without warning</span>
  </em>
  <span> and took off into an alley. Next thing I know, it’s Spider-Man coming out of that alley and swingin’ around after God knows what, and I’m supposed to have his ass in my back seat. I have to </span>
  <em>
    <span>pay for parking</span>
  </em>
  <span> to wait for him to come back, assuming he was planning to. You owe me twenty bucks,” Happy points at Tony and narrows his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Happy! I really am,” Peter says, “I just- I didn’t want to lose him and I didn’t have time to explain-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But you </span>
  <em>
    <span>DID </span>
  </em>
  <span>lose him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well that wasn’t the </span>
  <em>
    <span>plan</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Anyway, when I caught up to him, he punched me in the face with something hard on his knuckles- well, rings, I guess- and it hurt a lot worse than I was expecting, so it threw me off and I missed him with my webs. I ended up falling backwards into a construction site and ripping my suit on some metal. I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I couldn’t even find him after, and I went back to tell the lady what happened and what he looked like, but...she was gone, too. I gave a description to a cop, but...”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The entire show was for nothing,” Happy summarizes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did it all for nothing,” echoes Peter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony sighs. “Happy, let up on him, will you? He was just trying to do a good deed. When’s the last time you ran after a thief? When’s the last time you even </span>
  <em>
    <span>ran?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Happy sighs and runs a hand down his face. Peter snickers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come in here and let me make sure you aren’t seriously hurt before we get to working, Pete. Go take a nap, Happy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Happy grumbles something about not getting paid enough on his way out the door, and Peter walks over to where Tony’s cleared off a table.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t look so defeated, kid, you can’t win ‘em all. Don’t let Happy give you a hard time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He pats the table for Peter to sit down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not hurt, Mr. Stark, just got a bruise is all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I just look you over for my sake, then?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter rolls his eyes. “We have stuff to work on! Seriously, I’m fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If it were anyone else, Tony would have let it go. However, if there’s anything Tony has learned about Peter in their time as mentor and protege, it’s that Peter has a terrible habit of hiding his ailments out of fear of possibly inconveniencing another person. If </span>
  <em>
    <span>The Boy Who Cried Wolf</span>
  </em>
  <span> had a polar opposite, it was Peter Parker. He was The Boy Who Cried, “there’s no wolf, seriously Mr. Stark, I can handle a wolf, it’s fine.” Tony has lectured him time and time again about asking for and accepting help, but he knows that his definition of </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine </span>
  </em>
  <span>and Peter’s definition of </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine</span>
  </em>
  <span> are vastly different.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, hard no. I’ve seen your idea of</span>
  <em>
    <span> fine</span>
  </em>
  <span> and I don’t think I like it. I’ll be quick, just hop up here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, with Peter’s (annoyed) consent and a promise to let him know if anything hurts, he starts to look and feel for abrasions and breaks on his arms and torso. The teen is uncharacteristically quiet, likely stewing over what he considers a personal failure. Tony tries to get him talking about school, tries to joke with him to get a smile, but he gets half-interested answers and huffs of air at his quips. He doesn’t react to any of Tony’s squeezing or prodding until the man presses his fingers to the side of his ribcage, near the tear in the suit’s material. Peter cuts his story off with a sharp intake of breath and a tiny wince, and then starts to talk in hopes of diverting Tony’s attention to something else. Tony cuts him off immediately.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, no, wait. I saw that. What hurts?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, nothing. You just startled me. Nothing hurts.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony scowls at him. Peter Parker has many skills, but making up lies on the spot has never been one of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ve gotta cut this ‘tough guy’ act. If you’ve cracked a rib or something, and you let it heal wrong because you just wanna go tinker-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mr. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Stark</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’m being serious.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony isn’t buying it for a second. He knows what he saw. In an attempt to get him to cry out in pain and ruin his facade, he jabs his fingers right back into the side of the boy’s ribs. Peter jolts again, though this time he slams his arms tightly to his sides to try and block Tony. The sound he lets out is more akin to a squeal than a groan of pain. Tony furrows his brows in confusion, looking up at Peter’s face. He won’t make eye contact, and his cheeks are pink. It only takes a few seconds of silent assessment for Tony to figure out what was happening, and he grins.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah-</span>
  <em>
    <span>ha</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Have a bit of a weakness, do we?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The teen’s eyes widen, and before he can protest, Tony’s index fingers are poking him in the ribs again and again and again and again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hey!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter lets out a squawk that dissolves into a peal of high-pitched giggling, curling in on himself and grappling with Tony’s wrists. Tony grins wider and switches his pokes to pinches, making the boy hiccup with laughter and stutter out what he assumes were meant to be threats.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sta-h-</span>
  <em>
    <span>AH</span>
  </em>
  <span>-p! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Stoppit! </span>
  </em>
  <span>I swea-</span>
  <em>
    <span>HARE-”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony seizes his wiggly intern around the waist and squeezes both sides. Peter shrieks again, and breathes in quicker than his body is prepared for, and snorts. His blush deepens as he claps one hand over his mouth and nose in horror. Tony, of course, bursts into laughter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What was THAT? Since when do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>snort</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” he chortles, not pausing his attack.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shu-HUT UHUP, MAN-!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He is cut off once again by his own involuntary impression of Porky Pig, this time making both of them laugh harder. More fondness swells in Tony’s chest than he’d bargained for, and he can’t remember the last time he’d laughed this much with anyone. It would be a heartwarming scene to watch if it hadn't turned violent within a minute of starting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It sounds like common sense, really.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Don’t poke a sleeping bear. Don’t run with scissors. Don’t microwave metal. Don’t tickle a kid with super strength.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony isn’t thinking about it when he reaches down to dig all ten fingers into the kid’s stomach. Peter is on his back at this point, and reflexively both knees shoot up to his chest in an attempt to curl into a ball. There’s a sickening crack as a kneecap connects with the bridge of Tony’s nose, and the older man stumbles backwards, cradling his face with a grunt of pain. Peter shoots upright and hops off the table, rushing to his mentor’s side as blood starts to seep between his fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my GOD! I’m SO sorry, Mr. Stark, oh my God, I’m so sorry, just hold on, I’ll-I’ll get a towel and- we can- are you laughing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony moves his hands from his face to reveal a crooked, bloody nose, and a grin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, come on. You don’t think this is funny?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it- it’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>broken</span>
  </em>
  <span>, is it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, it definitely is. FRIDAY, tell Bruce I’m on my way to the MedBay with a broken nose.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh God, oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>God</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’m so sorry-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop, this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>entirely </span>
  </em>
  <span>my fault. Like, this is a consequence I should’ve seen coming a mile away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>MY</span>
  </em>
  <span> knee, BROKE your nose!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I was totally asking for it. Calm down. You think this is my first broken nose?</span>
  <em>
    <span> Please</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter looks slightly less mortified as Tony continues to chuckle, slinging an arm around his shoulder and leading him towards the door. He threatens to have his suits pin him to the ground for another tickle attack if he doesn't stop apologizing, which cuts him off quickly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They head to the MedBay, where Tony relays the story to Bruce, and they both laugh. Peter groans in embarrassment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t feel bad, kid,” Bruce says, “sounds like he deserved a good whack.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony shrugs with a smirk, and Peter laughs. Bruce sets Tony’s nose and tells him not to put himself in any more situations that may involve flailing limbs for a while, which is a relief for Peter more than anything. They finish their afternoon in the lab, testing prototypes and tweaking designs. Tony tries to pretend he doesn’t have an ever-growing soft spot for his ridiculous intern, and chuckles to himself every time he passes a mirror for the next week.</span>
</p>
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